What began as a record of everything I read for one year quickly turned into a place to connect with other book lovers over our shared passion. I'm so glad that I discovered the book blogging world! Please visit as often as you like, and feel free to chime in with your opinions any time.

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Who AM I?

That's a good question ... I'm a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend ... and there's so much more! But for the purpose of this blog I am a first and foremost a reader.

When I was in the first grade I read The Hobbit and my love of Fantasy took root. By the time I left elementary school I had completed the entire series as well as The Belgariad by David Eddings. Seventh grade brought me the beginning of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series ... which is still not complete. High school and college introduced me to the classics and to history. My reading disappeared for several years when I had a child. Then I started a book club and it came back in full force.

Today I read anything that catches my eye ... at the moment that includes historical fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, and any titles I find interesting. I'm always on the lookout for the next great find ... any suggestions?

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Monday Randomness ...

I am exhausted after a very busy/stressful/fun weekend. Combine that with the one-hour-earlier deal that is is Daylight Savings Time and you've got one fried brain here. So here's the random bookishness that's on my mind today:

THE SPARROW read-a-long update: Tomorrow I’ll be posting discussion questions for participants to answer. You don’t need to be finished the book to join in so don’t worry if you are still reading.

What I’m reading now:

THE SPARROW, by Mary Doria Russell – This is my 2nd time reading this book and it is just as good as it was the first time. The first time I read it I stayed up until 4am one night; I was so anxious about what was going to happen that I literally could not close my eyes, even after I put the book down. I didn’t think that would be the case this time since I know the ending but it is happening again. I’ve realized that I just can’t read this book before bed – it is a daytime read only.

Silver: My Tale As Told By Me, With A Goodly Amount of Murder, by Edward Chupak – This is the tale of Long John Silver reimagined and is currently my bedtime read. I’m only a short way into it but I like it so far. It is a bit heavy on the pirate jargon though, so we’ll see how it goes …

Black Hills, by Dan Simmons – I had to put this book aside for a while. I was enjoying it but it is rather slow, and I was falling asleep every time I got one page read. Not a good thing.

I’ve also got three audiobooks going right now. Not sure exactly how that happened, but despite some initial confusion it IS working for me.

Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them, by John & Jean Silverwood – I’m listening to this one while at work so I’m not really paying close attention but it is quite fascinating regardless. And it’s a true story, so that’s a bonus.

Crocodile on the Sandbank, by Elizabeth Peters – I’ve got this book playing while I get ready for work in the morning. It is the first in the Amelia Peabody series. It isn’t what I expected so I’m not sure what I think of it just yet.

A Darker Place, by Laurie R. King – This is my in-the-car book. It’s the fictional story of a woman going undercover to investigate a potential cult and I’m really enjoying it so far!

I need to get Kiddo to vlog his thoughts on the latest Percy Jackson book that we finished, THE TITAN’S CURSE, but getting that kid to stay put long enough to discuss a book is increasingly difficult …How is your reading going? Anything you are particularly enjoying or not enjoying?

9 comments:

I was reading Captivity - which I was really enjoying until I realized I had less than a week to read Let the Great World Spin for book club - which I am NOT enjoying. My reading has recently been consumed by have to reads rather than want to reads, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I totally agree on the day time reading for The Sparrow! In fact, I started doing that very thing, I knew it would give my brain grief if I read it right before bed, so I only read it in the day, and when I finished and got to the ending that I was so nervous about, that was all read in the morning! It worked. I could sleep that night! :)

Hi there, I'm also a Mary Doria Russell fan! Have you read the sequel to the Sparrow: The Children of God? Just as beautifully written, with amazing job on character building, but the image of humanity can/could do is a bit more positive. Russell has an amazing way to deal with suffering in her writings. I was not surprised then to read that she converted to Judaism - I've always felt they could write about suffering so well. I also read a Thread of Grace by the same author, just as tough and beautiful, about WWII.as for my readings, I rarely struggle with a book, am in the process of reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (so funny and exact picture of France - I am French myself) and an incredible book by Umberto Eco: The Search for the Perfect Language. Emma [rocksbyemmanuelle.wordpress.com]

Emma - I've read all her books except the WWI book, and I'm hoping to get to that one this year. I actually like CHILDREN OF GOD better than THE SPARROW for the exact reason you mention. Thanks for coming by to comment!

Oh I'd have loved to join in on The Sparrow! I've really been wanting to read it but what with the move and all I am swamped. I actually found it at a used book store a while back but had no cash. When I next went it was gone. Sigh. I'll definitely be reading it in the future though and will let you know what I think!

Amanda - Too bad! I guess there's no way you can read it in the next two weeks. :( But you definitely have to read this book, and the follow up to it (Children of God) at some point. I had forgotten how great it really is until this read-a-long.